On a cool, crisp morning in the fall of 1996, I “borrowed” a perfect cluster of perfectly ripened grapes from the vineyards of Robert Mondavi in Napa, California.

For me, it was clear from the beginning that this particular cluster of grapes was never destined for great wine, but for great bread.

I carefully wrapped the grapes and secretly transported them back to Michigan where I immediately introduced them to some fabulous artisanal flour and Michigan spring water.

The naturally occurring wild yeast on the skins of these very special grapes soon created a magic cauldron of bubbly artisan bread “starter” or “poolish” as the artisan bread bakers call it.

That same starter has been nurtured for 22 years. In that time, its help to create hundreds of thousands of loaves, baguettes and rolls. Many created at Nino’s Artisan Bakery at the Clinton Township Store.

We’ve always planned to bring those fabulous artisan breads to our other locations and now, those plans are becoming a reality.

Construction has begun on Nino’s New Artisan Commissary which is located on the western side of our Troy Store on Rochester Road. Besides being the new home for our Artisan Bread Bakery the 5,000 square foot space will also include a new kitchen for our “scratch” soup production, our fresh pastas, and a NEW barbecue program called Northern Smoke, that we are VERY excited about.

One of our new ovens from Germany about to be installed.

Even more exciting is the facilities design which will allow our customers to see our new custom built MiWe Artisan Bread Oven, the glistening Stainless Steel Soup Kettles and to watch just how these delicious products are made by viewing their creation through the large exterior windows which wrap around the commissary. The commissary will be open in early October.

It’s an ambitious project, especially considering that our new Bloomfield Township store will be opening in early November.

The team is working hard to get the job done!

As we ramp up production, you will eventually see these wonderful breads in all our stores beginning with the Clinton Township and Bloomfield Township locations.

If you haven’t tried our Artisan Breads (currently available at our Clinton store), our house made soups or our fresh made pastas, you owe yourself the treat. You can even get a taste of how delicious our new Northern Smoke barbecued meats will be by trying one of our 3 Northern Smoke barbecue sauces currently available at Nino’s.

It’s a busy time at Nino’s. We’ve been growing all summer, and this fall, it’s going to be a bountiful harvest!

What’s it like to work in an Artisan Bread Bakery? It’s hard work, but fun! Here’s a peak of a video on YouTube of an Artisan Baker in the U. K.  https://youtu.be/iUuKstAWof4

And here’s a blog I wrote several years ago What Are Artisan Breads?